The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-16
KILLED BY A SHELL.
A Bit of Vivid Painting by the
Russian Novelist.

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Russian Novelist.
From Sebostopol, By Count Leo 7'olstoi.
We left Praskoukine coming back with
Mikhailoff. He reached a less exposed
place and began to breathe again, when he
perceived, on turning around the sudden
light of fash The Sentinel shouted
"Mor-tarI' And one of the soldiers who
followed added: "It is coming straight
into the bastion" Mkhailolf looked. The
luminous point of the bomb-shell seemed to
stop directly over his head, exactly the mo-
ment when it was impossible to
tell what direction it was going to
take. That was for the space
Of a second. Suddenly, rebuilding in speed,
the proiectile came nearer and nearer. The
sparks of the fuse could be seen flying out,
the dismal Kissing was plainly audible. 1t
was going to drop right in the midst of the
battalion. "To earth" shouted voica
MikhailOff and Praskoukine obeyed. The
latter, with shut eyes, heard the shell fall
somewhere on the hard earth very near him.
second, which appeared to him an hour,
passed, and the shell did not burst
Praskoukine was frightened; then he
asked himself what cause he had
for fear. Perhaps it had fallen further
away, and he wrongly imagined
that he heard the fuse Kissing near him.
Opening his eyes, he was satisfied to see
Mikhailoff stretched motionless at his feet :;
but at the same time he perceived a yard
off, the lighted fuse of the shell spinning
around like a top. A glacial terror, which
stifled every thought, every sentiment, took
possession Of his soul He hid his face in
his hands Another second passed, during
which a whole world of thoughts. of hopes,
of sensations, and of souvenirs passed
through his mind "Whom will il kill Me
or Mikhailof, or indeed both OF lis together:
If it is !, where will it hit mel If in the
head, it will be all over: if on the foot, they
will cut it off; then | shall insist that they
gave me chloroform. And may get we'll
Perhaps Mikhailof alone will be killed
and later | will tell how we We're closa to-
gether, and how | was covered with his
blood. No, no! it is nearer met will he
lm Then he remembered the twelve rubles
he owed Mikhailof, and another debt left
at Petersburg, which ought to have been
paid long ago A Bohemian air that he
sang the evening before came to his
mind. He also saw in his imagination
the lady he was in love with in her lilac
trimmed bonnet; the man who had insulted
him five years before, and whom he had
never taken vengeance on. But in the
midst Of these and many other souvenirs
the present feeling-the expectation of
death-did not leave him. "Perhaps it is
not going to exploded" he thought, and was
on the point of opening his eyes with desper-
ate boldness. But at this instant a red fire
struck his eyeballs through the closed
lids, something hit him in the middle of
the chest with terrible crash He ran
forward at random, entangled his feet in his
sword, stumbled and fell on his side. ''God
be praised; am only bruised" This was
his first thought, and he wanted to feel of
his breast but his hands seemed as if they
were tied. A wise gripped his head, soldiers
ran before his eyes, and he mechanically
counted them: cone, two, three soldiers
and, besides, an officer who is losing his
cloak" A new light flashed: he wondered
what had fired. Was it a mortar or a can
nons Doubtless a cannon. Another shot,
more solders-fve, six. seven. They
passed in front of him, and suddenly he be-
came terribly afraid of being crushed by
them. He wanted to cry out, to say that
he was bruised, but his lips were dry, his
tongue was glued to the roots of his mouth
He had a burning thirst. He felt that his
breast was damp, and the sensation of this
moisture made him think of water He
would have liked to drink that which
drenched him. II must have knocked the
skin off in falling he said to himself,
more and more frightened at the
idea of being crushed by the soldiers
who were running in crowds be
fore him. He tried again to cry out, 'Take
metz But instead of that he uttered a
groan so terrible that he was frightened by
it himself. Then red sparks danced before
his eyes; it seemed as if the soldiers were
piling stones upon him. The sparks danced
more rapidly. the stones piled on him stiiIed
him more and more. He stretched himself
out, he ceased to see, to hear, to think, to
feel. He had been killed instantly by a
piece of shell striking him full in the
breast.